98 MPs Who Supported Human Rights While Countering Terrorism

14.5.10

Just before the election, I created a list of 149 MPs (out of 650 in total), who had signed up to two important Early Day Motions over the previous 12 months. The first opposed the use of secret evidence in UK courts, particularly in the cases of terror suspects (both British and foreign nationals), where it is used as a pretext to hold them under control orders (a form of house arrest) or in prison pending deportation, or on deportation bail (again, a form of house arrest), without them being formally charged or tried. The other called for the release of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guantánamo, who was cleared for release by the US authorities in 2007, but has still not been reunited with his British wife and four British children, despite claims by the Labour government that it had done all in its power to secure his release since August 2007.

As I also noted at the time, the 149 MPs included just three Tories (less than 2 percent of the total number of Conservative MPs), 89 Labour, 43 Liberal Democrat, and 14 independents, or members of other parties.

Now that the election is over, I’ve been through this list again, identifying those who lost their seats (refining the previous list I made here) and those who stood down at the election, to provide the first list of the remaining MPs who, at some point in the last year, demonstrated concern about the Labour government’s draconian response to the perceived terrorist threat — or its dithering over securing the return to the UK of Shaker Aamer.

Crucially, I also added MPs who had voted against the annual renewal of control orders on March 1, 2010 (PDF), in which Liberal Democrat MPs (including Nick Clegg, Vince Cable, Chris Huhne and Danny Alexander) came out in force, with almost every Lib Dem MP voting against the renewal of the legislation, and just one lone Tory — the maverick David Davis — joining them.

In the coalition government formed by the Tories and the Lib Dems, the gulf between both parties is particularly pronounced on these topics, and I hope, therefore, that this list provides a useful starting point for campaigners to write to MPs to encourage them to make their voices heard in the first few months of the new parliament.

They are not the only MPs who care about these issues, of course. In the new influx of MPs, those who care about justice and human rights include Caroline Lucas, Britain’s first Green MP, and, presumably, the handful of other new Lib Dem MPs and some Labour MPs too (who might feel less pressured to toe the party line now that they are no longer in power). I am, however, deeply concerned that, out of 306 Tory MPs, only two have demonstrated clear opposition to the Labour government’s draconian policies regarding terrorism, and I believe that, as a result, putting pressure on the Lib Dem MPs in particular is absolutely essential. If they stick to their principles, they must push for the abandonment of control orders and the use of secret evidence, and the return of Shaker Aamer. Otherwise, it will be revealed that they have sacrificed their principles for political gain, in a world not of their own devising, but of the Tory majority in their unusual coalition.

Note: In the list, CO refers to those who voted against the proposal to renew control orders on March 1, 2010, SA refers to the Shaker Aamer EDM, and SE refers to the secret evidence EDM. Please also note that, bizarrely, the 19 Labour MPs marked with an asterisk (*) voted for the renewal of control orders, even though, in some cases, they had supported the EDM opposing the use of secret evidence.

Please also note that other MPs who may be worth contacting are Fiona Mactaggart (Labour), Richard Shepherd (Conservative) and Edward Timpson (Conservative), who were all members of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (PDF), although none of them voted against the renewal of control orders, or supported the secret evidence EDM, unlike the chair, Andrew Dismore, who lost his seat, and members Evan Harris (Lib Dem), who also lost his seat, and Virendra Sharma (who did vote against the renewal). Also of interest is Andrew Tyrie (Conservative), who established the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition.